1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention described herein pertain to the field of computer systems. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable a system and method for changing hair color in digital images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital photography and image processing techniques have become more accessible to the general population due to advances in digital and computer technologies. Digital image modification is an increasingly common technique for producing image material for professional, recreational and promotional purposes.
Image and video matting techniques are used to determine the foreground of an image or video to extract a relevant portion of an image. Image matting algorithms can be used to create composite images and videos. Matting may also be used as an intermediate step, such as to apply other image editing or processing techniques to a foreground portion of an image or a background portion of the image.
Basic image matting techniques have been used to provide images to change the hairstyle of a subject in an image, including the subject's hair color. These basic techniques use matting and compositing to provide a preview image of a hair treatment, such as a hair color product.
When the preview image shows a change in hair color, a single selected color is typically used. For example, hair color is changed in a preview image by overlaying a semitransparent mask of the single selected color over a hair region of an image. The quality of these preview images is limited because the method using the single selected color does not produce a realistic simulation of real hair color in a photographic image.
To overcome the problems and limitations described above there is a need for systems and methods for digital hair coloring which realistically simulate hair color distribution in a photographic image.